Operation of equipment of this type, compact-disk players in particular, has demonstrated that dust on the surface of the lens in the pickup system can considerably decrease the scanning quality, which expresses itself for example in poorer music reproduction.
Accumulated dust will even deteriorate reproduction in analog-record players that mechanically scan an audio track with a stylus. The VR15 cartridge manufactured by Shure Brothers accordingly featured a tiny brush that swept a number of adjacent grooves free of dust in advance of the stylus.
Also known was an approach wherein the stylus traveled over a small brush as the pickup arm moved toward or away from its rest, brushing dust off the stylus. This device was manufactured by Elac, Kiel.
A device for blowing away and/or suctioning up small particles while records were being played by the AEG-Telefunken TED process was also known.
Reducing or eliminating detrimental deposits of dust particles on the surface of the lens of the optical system in equipment of the type initially described herein was the object of the present invention.
The invention makes it possible with appropriate means to decrease or prevent the deposit of dust on the surface of the lens in an optical recording and/or playback mechanism.